Kirsti
by Elliot Green
Summary: Sequel to Stranger From Another Planet. Kirsti talks about her past adventures around the universe to the horror of everyone, then meets up with an old friend in the soul-sucking Vortex. HP/HG


**Stranger From Another Planet**

**a/n: I got re-inspired. It happens from time to time. Oh, and a shout-out to Marlicat!  
**

* * *

It had been about a week since Hermione Granger and Harry Potter had escaped the wizarding world and joined Kirsti and Rob on their adventures around the universe.

And they didn't regret it at all.

They hadn't been on a real adventure yet, since adventures were quite dangerous and neither Rob nor Kirsti thought them ready, but they had learned a lot of things.

Like the fact that Kirnians were generally law-abiding, and were not open to bribes.

Or the fact that the Kirt Galaxy was generally a quiet place, perfect for those on the run from the law.

But a week had gone by, and Kirsti secretly thought that they were ready for a small adventure, so she talked to Rob and he agreed.

They were going to steal a painting from one of the richest art collectors in the universe.

"Um... That sounds like a rather big adventure..." Hermione said hesitantly. She was wearing a plain dark grey shirt and dark grey pants, with her knock-out stick holster around her waist.

Kirsti rolled her eyes. She was wearing the same thing, they all were, since they were going on an adventure.

"Listen Hermione, it's not that hard at all. Recently, a client approached me and offered to pay a large amount of credits if we could get him that painting. It's not a particularly famous one, and the guy checked out, and he's giving us a bunch of field-suppressors, omni-bands and light-deflectors, so we should be okay."

Rob sighed. "Yes, except for the fact that the teleport fields are on a different wave-length and we can either suppress them or the other field, which is way more dangerous. So we have to teleport to a spot near there and then fly the rest of the way, and then we have to rob him the old-fashioned way."

Kirsti rolled her eyes. "Easy-peasy. Haven't you ever _been_ on a mission with me before? Remember that time it turned out there was a pack of man-eating lions guarding the orb we were looking for and someone had brainwashed them to attack and eat every living thing that came near them? And we had to walk on the ceiling using super glue? And your glue gave out and you were hanging from the ceiling by one foot? And the lions started jumping to get you? And your knock-out grenade fell out of your pocket? The one you needed to get out again? And one of the lions ate it? And it went off and we both fainted? And when we woke up we were on the ground with a bunch of man-eating lions that were just waking up? And then we had to dismantle the shields around the orb and get out before the lions finished waking up? And we were too slow and how one of the lions ate your shirt? Don't you _remember_?"

"Yes." Rob said, hoarsely. "I did not need reminding, thank you very much. Now that's all I'm going to be able to think about."

Kirsti shrugged and looked at Harry and Hermione, who for some reason seemed to be gripping each other in fear.

"Don't worry," she said, "The mission we're going on wont be that dangerous."

Rob scoffed. "You said the lions weren't that dangerous."

Kirsti shrugged. "Well, I was right, wasn't I?"

Rob, Harry and Hermione all stared at Kirsti and she shifted uncomfortably.

"What? It wasn't. Not like that time when Marli, Rob and I were surfing on the edge of the Ringed Planet and got arrested for trespassing."

"What are you talking about? That wasn't so bad..." Rob said, fiddling with his shirt.

"Yeah, for you. Remember you got sent back to the ship due to your Megrafen passport? Of course, they didn't know it was illegal..."

"Yeah? So? What's the worst thing that could have happened to you guys?"

"Exactly what actually happened."

"Oh."

"Yeah. So Marli is wearing her trench coat, right, and all of a sudden she gets recognized by Lei, you know, the girl who landed on the lawn of the government house, and so Lei busted us out, and we decided to go on a trip together...

"So there we are at the Heidonian house of government, and then the sensors go off... And fifty dozen attack and defence robots suddenly come straight at us, and Lei just jumps up, grabs one of the robots, and it's about to attack and she suddenly whips it around, and it hits one of the other robots. And of course, there were about six hundred of them so it didn't do much good, but then Lei opens the garbage hatch and pulls us inside. Of course, it was a bit of a squeeze, but we started sliding down it. And then Marli remembers at the last second that this shaft goes to an incinerator, which she found out last time she was there, and we manage to grab on to the walls of the shaft.

"Then, Marli manages to open a door which was in the side, and we end up in the guards' office. So there's a millisecond of shock, and in that time Lei manages to bust open the air-vent with a well-thrown rock.

"Don't ask me where she got it... Probably from her friend, Stay. Stay is utterly weird and for some odd reason is one of the best in our business... There was the time she used that paper-clip to raid the Megerfolian Museum of Precious Jewels... People were talking about that for weeks...

"Anyway, so she busts open the vent and we scramble inside, and the guards are right behind us trying to get their shield-nullifiers up before we escape, since their lasers aren't working due to, well, the shield we had, and then the robots catch up with us so we manage to escape the vent by getting outside, and the shield-nullifiers start working, and the outer shield, the one that surrounds the Heidonian government house, was incredibly strong. It was thick enough to stop anyone from entering or leaving, so we're standing on the lawn and Lei remembers her micro-suppressors that were left on the lawn from when she crashed there, and tracks them down, scoops them up, and manages to create enough power to actually pierce through the shield at one small point, we get out of the shield, but of course the robots are still after us, so we have to run fifty krits until the radio signal weakens and the robots have to go back, and then we managed to pull ourselves back onto Lei's ship using the teleport bracelet she had.

"Although we almost got sling-shotted back into open space." Kirsti finished her story with a smile, leaned back and sighed. "Ah, the good old days..."

Harry and Hermione stared at her, and Rob was typing something on a keyboard.

"The good old days? That was the most utterly insane story I have ever heard!" Hermione said, fanning herself with her hand.

Rob typed in a final key and let out a triumphant cry. "Got it! I got the newspaper from the day after that happened... You guys were in the papers for weeks after that. Lei's ship landing on the lawn was nothing compared to that... They made a film _and_ a game out of that."

"Really? Do you think I could get some credits for that?" Kirsti said, sitting up.

Rob stared at her again. "Look, every single government is after you because of that. I can't believe that was _you_. I thought Stay or Illiana had something to do with it... I didn't peg you as crazy enough."

"What? I guess I have to try harder then." Kirsti said with a smile, and grabbed the keyboard form Rob.

"Rob, tell them more about Lei. They'll appreciate it." Kirsti started typing something in at a very fast rate.

"Fine. I'm not sure what galaxy Lei is from, but I know she's not from around here. The short version of her name is Lei La, and I'm not sure what the long version is... Actually, I'm not even sure the short version is correct. Lei is an enigma."

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean, 'short version'?"

"There's a lot of people in the universe, so people have to have long names. However, for general use people have a short version which they use as their signature. That's generally just their first two names. Then they use their first-name or a nickname for every day use. My short-name is Robstin Krestafin. Kirsti's is Kirstima Lorifina."

"Oh... So that's the English translation?"

"Yup. Our actual names aren't pronounceable. Anyway, Lei does even more dangerous stuff then us. Whenever you see her, you can be sure that something very, very dangerous is about to happen. She's wanted by _every single government_. There's a lot of them, believe me. She's very good at mechanics, and can lie herself out of almost every situation. However, she's not really someone you want to be around for a long time... She has a habit of making you appreciate life a lot more after you travel with her."

Hermione nodded, looking off into space. "It sort of reminds me of an old TV show I once saw... I forget what it was called."

Rob shrugged and looked over at Kirsti, who was still typing.

"I'm trying to decode the shields surrounding the palace." She said, answering the unasked question.

"What palace?" Harry asked, staring at the keyboard.

"The Margoronian palace. That's where we're headed. It wont be that hard, since the painting is open to the public. A bit of stolen technology and we'll be fine."

"What do you mean, stolen?" Hermione asked, frowning.

"Well, we are pirates." Rob explained, and grabbed another keyboard. "So Kirsti, why are you trying to decode the shields?"

"While I'm there, we'll see if we can get any blueprints. I don't want anything jumping us at the last moment."

Rob shrugged, and started typing. "Okay, I'm typing up a plan. Soon, we'll be off on your first ever mission! What fun."

Harry and Hermione shared a look.

"Yes," Harry said weakly. "Fun..."

"Oh."

"Rob? What is it now?"

"There's a snag..."

"Turns out the painting was just stolen."

"What? By who?" Kirsti said, peering at his screen.

"It was a man in drag..." As one, the group shuddered.

"Thanks a lot, Rob. You are now off my Christmas card list." Kirsti said, glaring at him.

"You celebrate Christmas?" Hermione said in shock.

"Where do you think Christmas came from in the first place? All that religious stuff is all alien."

"Really? Huh." Hermione stared at the wall for a moment, then turned back to Kirsti. "So, what are we going to do?"

"We're going on an adventure, no matter what! I promise that we'll do something fun today. Not sure what, but we will... I can't believe their security is so bad a man in drag managed to break in! Although... It is a pretty good disguise..." Kirsti gave Rob a shrewd glance and he shifted away from her.

"Um... Nothing dangerous, right?" Hermione said, hesitantly, getting them back on topic.

"Right! Sounds perfect!" Kirsti sprang to her feet and ran over to one of the computers.

"Oh crap. Way to go, Hermione. This is bad..." Rob grimaced and turned off the keyboard.

"What? What's happening?" Harry said. Kirsti was hitting what seemed to be a random sequence of buttons.

"She's calling Lei La."

"Yes, I've got some new recruits, first mission, what do you say? Great. Meet me at the Vortex in half a klick."

"Oh no, not the Vortex. What is it with you and that stupid Vortex?" Rob said, moaning.

"What vortex?" Harry said.

"The Vortex, a place private from everyone. It's in a place that is uninhabitable by every living thing. Some people say it sucks your soul out and disappears it into the midsts of time," Kirsti said, in a creepy voice.

"Um... So why are we going there?" Hermione said. She was beginning to regret her decision.

"Didn't you _hear_ the description? How can we stay away? Besides, it's a good place to go on your first adventure," said Kirsti, a bit dreamily.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Hermione said, staring at Kirsti in shock.

"Ah, come on. What's wrong with the Vortex? You'll love it. There's a legend that the Vortex exists out of time and space, since no one's ever been able to find it. Well, except for us." Kirsti have them a grin and hit another button on the computer. "Right! Off we go, then."

"Um... Are you sure about this?" Hermione said, in a small voice.

"And how can it exist outside of time and space?" Harry added.

"Yes I'm sure, and it's simple. It just does, this kind of thing happens, so get over it." Kirsti stuck her tongue out at him and hit yet another button on the keyboard, and there was a flash of lights.

"Teleportation shields down!" Rob said, and flicked a switch. The ship gave another lurch.

"Stage one activated!" Kirsti said, and pulled a lever.

"Stage two primed and ready to go!" Rob said, and pushed a series of buttons at a pace that was too fast to the human eye.

"Stage two activated, stage three primed, and basic shields up!" Kirsti said, and pulled two levers, pushed three buttons and flicked one switch.

"Stage three activated, stage four primed, hyper-space shields activated, basic teleportation link primed, navigation system searching, and cloaking device up!" Rob said, and switched, pulled and pushed some more things.

"Stage four activated! Navigation system locked! Teleportation link activated! And here we go!" Kirsti pushed one final button and then stopped. The ship rocked and the computers blinked furiously, before finally settling down, and everything was quiet.

Kirsti pulled up a screen and clicked another button.

"And here we are..."

A door that neither Harry nor Hermione knew was there suddenly appeared.

It revealed a stricken, barren ground and a surprised young woman.

"Kirsti? Rob? What on Jaqex are you doing here?"

"We've got some new recruits that we're training." Kirsti said, pointing over her shoulder to Harry and Hermione. Kirsti hesitated for one second, then ran out of the space ship and hugged the woman.

"MARLI!" She screamed, squeezing the life out of Marli.

"Ouch."

"Oops. Sorry." Kirsti let go of Marli.

"So. Hi Harry, hi Hermione. How did you get them? Oh, hi Rob." Marli gave a little wave as Rob jumped out of the ship and landed next to her.

"Hey Mar. Um... Where's your ship? Don't tell me you've got an visibility compresser."

"Yup." Marli beamed, and snapped her fingers. A sleek black ship appeared.

"Oh no way... Is that a JK5 Mark 3?"

"Yup." Marli gave a smug smile.

"Holy fist of Jatren."

"I thought that curse wasn't used any more."

"And I thought the JK5 Mark 3 was banned on every single planet due to the fact that it breaks every single speed maximum there is, on the _lowest setting_. That ship is so crazily fast."

"Um... Is this the Vortex?" Hermione said, peeking her head out of the space ship.

Kirsti nodded. "Come on, Marli doesn't bite."

Marli grinned, showing off her teeth.

Hermione gulped, but jumped onto the ground with Harry following her.

"So, how did you get dragged into this?"

"We were at Hogwarts, and the UPD came and Kirsti gave us ten seconds to decide whether or not to go with her, and we decided to go with her."

Marli nodded.

"Rob and I detected high amounts of cigam on Earth, and it turned out to be a school of magic. I called the UPD and took these two with me when Rob teleported me back to the ship."

"Cigam? Really? Wow. Those Earthlings sure do sink low."

The two Earthlings shifted uncomfortably.

"So. Now they're space pirates flying through the galaxies?"

"Yup." Rob gave a small smile. "And Kirsti has been scaring us all with past recollections of various adventures."

"That's awesome. Hey, did I ever tell you about the time-"

* * *

**a/n: Well, that's it for now. I'm probably going to make a sequel.  
**


End file.
